These crisp, buttery little cookies are a variation on jeera biscuits: cumin-studded shortbread cookies popular in India and Pakistan. In place of jeera -cumin seeds- I used a combination of black and white sesame seeds. The difference between the two? Black seeds contain a nutrient-rich outer hull, and pale seeds generally (though not always) have … Continue reading Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies
Summer is South Asian mango season. Indian grocery stores carry sweet, fragrant varieties like Kesar and Alphonso. And if you’re lucky, you can sample velvety, out-of-this-world Pakistani mangoes. Priced at $10 per mango, at least in some shops in the Chicago area where I live, they are a luxurious treat – practically the equivalent of … Continue reading Mango Lassi with Homemade Almond Milk
These doughnuts are light, airy – and made with pizza dough! Pizza dough has fewer ingredients than classic yeast-raised doughnuts, or even the cake variety, for that matter: no eggs, no milk, no butter. Yet they are just as delicious, if not more, and can be fried in a relatively shallow amount of oil. For … Continue reading Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts
This is a dairy-free, whole grain, fruit-filled version of my all-time favorite pancake recipe: Rosa Parks’ “featherlite” peanut butter pancakes. The civil rights icon scribbled the recipe on the back of an envelope, which was discovered with her personal belongings after she passed away at age 92, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was … Continue reading Blackberry, Peanut Butter, and Almond Milk Pancakes
The American version of Rugelach, a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish pastry, typically contains butter and cream cheese, and occasionally sour cream. Classic European (and modern Israeli) rugelach are yeast-risen, but the cream cheese dough is much simpler to prepare; all the ingredients are thrown into a food processor. My twist features Greek yogurt in place of … Continue reading Greek Yogurt Rugelach
I took a classic Parisian tart recipe by pastry chef Nick Malgieri, author of one of my favorite cookbooks, The Modern Baker, and put a slight twist on it. Rather than bake mini tarts, I prepared one large one, pressing the decadent cookie dough crust into a tart pan with a removable bottom. And instead … Continue reading Pistachio Fruit Tart
My kids call these addictive, flaky flatbreads “matzo parathas.” We had set out to prepare homemade matzo for Passover, using a simple New York Times Cooking recipe. One of my sons noticed that the dough, shaped into thin discs for baking into matzo crackers, resembled parathas, a delicious Indian and Pakistani flatbread that my mother-in-law … Continue reading Olive Oil Flatbread
I set out to make homemade Oreo cookies with a twist (pistachio cream in place of the classic vanilla filling) and ended up with these decadent vegan sandwich cookies. For the chewy chocolate cookies, I adapted my favorite vegan cookie recipe – Ovenly’s “secretly vegan” salted chocolate chip cookies – adding cocoa powder, eliminating the … Continue reading Vegan Coconut Pistachio Cookies
This is my twist on a simple pomegranate cupcake recipe I found online. The dairy-free batter is prepared in one bowl, and the gorgeous pink glaze has only two ingredients: sugar and pomegranate juice. I added cocoa powder and molasses to enhance the flavor, and baked the batter in a round pan rather than a … Continue reading Chocolate Pomegranate Cake
Made from partially whole wheat challah dough, these light, fluffy rolls contain hidden swirls of pureed olives (I used Kalamata, a Greek variety) and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan, which becomes slightly crisp in the oven. The rolls are delicious served with slices of Gouda or cheddar, or a little goat cheese or feta. … Continue reading Olive Parmesan Rolls
Baker Without Borders 